Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Miley Cyrus- Breakout Album Review


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Artist- Miley Cyrus
Album- Breakout

Miley Cyrus has had a really strong year musically speaking in 2013, producing hit singles We Can’t Stop and Wrecking Ball, as well as topping many charts worldwide with her fourth studio album Bangerz. But this year has also perhaps been an important year for Cyrus for all the wrong reasons, as the former Disney Star has conveyed a much more overtly sexualised image and has given us some risqué music performances. The singer has said that she basically compromised herself musically in order to gain enough money to support herself and her family for the future, and it is now that we are getting to see the true artist. But was the singer’s first album (completely away from the Hannah Montana franchise) really all that bad, or was the golden age of Miley Cyrus really back in the days when she was a sweet Disney star?

Track 1- Breakout

Title track and album opener Breakout is fun dance-pop number  with a slight pop rock tinge to it, where the singer lyrically plays up to her teen role and expresses the idea of escaping such things as your family and just having fun dancing around and being a bit silly with your friends. The song is sweet and readily accessible with a strong pop chorus, whilst vocally Cyrus exudes a lovely vibrancy that makes the song more infectious to listen to. The cool mix of shimmering keyboard notes, chiming electric guitar and a fast paced drum beat gives the song this quick and vibrant quality that starts the record on a good note.

3.5/5

Track 2- 7 Things

One of the singer’s biggest hits at the time of her teen stardom, 7 Things is a feisty but vulnerable, emotional tune that sees Cyrus tell an ex-boyfriend just how he has affected her. The song’s lyrics are written in the second person, where Cyrus talks of the hardships that existed within the relationship, and the refrain is fun and feisty as the singer tells her ex seven things she hates about him, but in the end the seventh thing is that despite his flaws she still loves him. The song perfectly captures the intensity of teenage love, and vocally Cyrus is great in the way that she goes from the softness of the verses to the quick aggressiveness of the chorus with ease. The pop rock production on the song nicely deviates from simple guitar riffs to stomping drum beats and a slight country feel that just adds to the emotional intensity, making this a track where you can easily see why it is was so popular at the height of the singer’s teen stardom.

3.5/5

Track 3- The Driveway

With an aggressive guitar riff, The Driveway is shown to be an emotionally potent number from the beginning. A power ballad, the song lyrically focuses on a break up in which Cyrus expresses the fact that it is too late to salvage the relationship. The song sees the singer commendably take on a powerful vocal performance, and although this is a cool breakup song, it very much sounds and feels like it is coming from a teenage perspective where you can’t fully understand things, and so this will only appeal to younger listeners. The forceful pop rock production is also a little bland in terms of the sound feeling familiar for this kind of pop ballad, and it might have worked better to just keep things a bit simpler, even if the use of guitars towards the end of the song is great.

2.5/5

Track 4- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun finds Cyrus taking on a Cyndi Lauper classic and changing the reggae infused pop of the original track, making her version more of a forceful pop rock offering. As a result some of the charm and light, infectious fun of the original song is lost, and although she doesn’t murder the song vocally, it does come across with this version like Cyrus is trying too hard to show that she is having fun, and she may actually not be doing so. The stabs of strings within the song adds a cool texture to the sound and for the singers teen audience at the time the song would probably work, as they would most likely not know the original track, but I am just grateful this was never released as a single or we might have had a little Cyndi Lauper Miley Cyrus feud going on.

2/5

Track 5- Full Circle

Featuring a stomping drum beat and light guitar riffs, Full Circle is an emotionally loaded song in which Cyrus lyrically expresses her feelings for this person and how she will not quit on this relationship. The song features a great use of different hooks which makes the song very catchy, and vocally Cyrus is strong as she doesn’t overuse her voice and shows of some nice range. The pop rock production is a bit overpowering and safe, but it suits the lyrical message and simply caters well to a teen audience, whilst working well with the overall sound of the record.

3.5/5

Track 6- Fly on the Wall

Cyrus changes things up a bit with Fly on the Wall, a song that still has an influence of pop rock but which also incorporates more electronic vibes into the singer’s music. Furthermore, the lyrics are also more intriguing and catchy in the way that they can be related to a variety of topics. Here Cyrus things of how this person/s would want to be a fly on the wall to discover what she was doing all the time. With a snappy, solid pop chorus, the song is fun as it can simply relate to a controlling boyfriend, or can have a bigger meaning, such as the singers life being full of paparazzi (which Cyrus has stated was the primary concept of the track). Cyrus vocally imbues the song with a feisty and also slightly flirtatious attitude, with the chorus being catchy through the use of vocal layering. The stomping pop rock sound with the vibrant electronic notes and handclapping fun of the bridge makes for a strong sound that is both radio friendly and a bit more intriguing than some of the other songs.

3.5/5

Track 7- Bottom of the Ocean

From the feisty fun tone of the previous track we are transferred to a mid tempo, emotionally wrought level with contemporary ballad Bottom of the Ocean. The song finds Cyrus expressing how she will have to find the love that she once had with this person in another way, whilst also moving on, even if it is buried deep and if it is hard to understand why things have changed this way. The song is lyrically a bit more sophisticated even with some of the clichéd statements and the annoying ‘do do do do’ hook. Vocally we get to hear a softer side to the singer’s voice and she shows off her voice to better effect. And the production is cool in terms of the more minimalist approach, with the use of atmospheric synth flourishes giving the song this riding on wave’s quality that perfectly melds with the lyrical message.

3.5/5

Track 8- Wake Up America

Taking things back to an up tempo pop rock state, Wake Up America finds Cyrus instilling positive messages into her audience and reflecting on how she doesn’t quite understand the whole thing about global warming, but she believes that people should do something and that we should make this a better place for the next generation. It might feel a bit silly coming from such a young woman but she astutely focuses on the topic and gives a voice to a cause, showing that this is a smart young woman. Vocally the singer gives us an attitude filled vocal in the verses as she seems to play the role of someone who doesn’t really care, before she simply launches into the chorus and emphasises that everything that we do does matter. The simple production value of the track gives the song a light pop sound with a fun guitar riff that just makes the lyrical message more pure and simple.

3.5/5

Track 9- These Four Walls

These Four Walls is a ballad that finds the singer delving into her country roots more prominently. Lyrically the song comes from an interior perspective where the singer analyses this situation and how things broke down to the point that she just wishes things were back to the way they were. The song is lyrically not that strong and clichéd, but vocally Cyrus shows some of the power in her voice and gives a twang to her vocal performance that shows that the country genre would be a strong sound for her, whilst the style of the vocal also gives an extra layer of emotion to the track. The songs sound also melds more of a country vibe into the singers music in terms of the style of the guitar riffs and the forceful drums, and the only issue with the sound is that it gets too powerful too quickly, and it maybe would have been stronger to just here Cyrus’ voice in a simpler setting.

3/5

Track 10- Simple Song 

Simple Song is not that apt a title for conveying the lyrical message, as here we find the singer giving a voice to the perils of coming of age in which you sometimes really can’t understand things and just alienate yourself. The way the song floats from this really aggressive rock, angst driven teenage sound to a barer, piano driven sound nicely conveys the personality of being a teenager, but musically this means that the song will only really appeal to a teenage audience, with the vocals also exemplifying this as the singer very much sounds her age.

3/5

Track 11- Goodbye

Goodbye is a soft, more acoustically driven song in which Cyrus expresses the idea of remembering simple times with this person and becoming upset by this, whilst she wishes she could forget the fact that she has said goodbye to this person. The lyrics are simple and catchy with the song being elevated by the singer’s vocal performance, which has more of a raw, rootsy tone that is great to listen to. Production on the track is great in terms of the blend of strings and guitar to create a powerful but more natural sound to accompany the singers vocals and really let the artist shine, and at this point it would have been nice to just here a little more of this side of Cyrus.

3.5/5

Track 12- See You Again (Rock Mafia Remix)

Second single and closing song See You Again is a remix of a track that originally appeared on the album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The song is a fun dance pop track that lyrically focuses on a teen romance. The songs verses find the singer reflecting upon her perceptions about her love interest, before the catchy chorus kicks in and Cyrus focuses on the different times she has been with her love interest and how she cannot wait to see him again. The stomping dance rhythm of the track is fun and more forceful and interesting to listen to, whilst vocally the singer plays the role of a love-struck teenager very well.

3.5/5

Final Review

Breakout is a fun pop record from Cyrus that shows that she could make some good music back in her teen idol days. The albums pop rock orientated sound is simple but effective whilst vocally the singer embodies the spirit of each track quite well. Lyrically the songs are smart and catchy, and so Breakout is just a fun record. That being said, some of the songs are terribly clichéd, and vocally the album is a bit patchy, with Cyrus coming across as an annoying teenager on some occasions. The pop rock production also becomes bland after a while, and this very much feels like a teen pop record that works well for a certain audience but won’t appeal to the majority. People may not like it, and her music may not have been that bad in the past, but now the singer has decided to grow up, and her music is stronger because of this.

5/10

Best Track- Goodbye

Worst Track- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

No comments:

Post a Comment